Shifting device for sliding carriages in office machines



T. SCHRIMPF April 18, 1961 SHIFTING DEVICE FOR SLIDING CARRIAGES IN OFFICE MACHINES Filed July 23, 1954 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 F/GJ IN VENT 0/? B1 mm,c,2.,, MIJLW ATTO aways T. SCHRIMPF April 18, 1961 SHIFTING DEVICE FOR SLIDING CARRIAGES IN OFFICE MACHINES Filed July 23, 1954 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTO'Q ATTORNE S T. SCHRIMPF 2,930,321

SHIFTING DEVICE FOR SLIDING CARRIAGES IN OFFICE MACHINES April 18, 1961 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed July 23, 1954 INVENTOR Tusooon ScHRIMPF SHIFTING DEVICE FOR SLIDING CARRIAGES IN OFFICE MACHINES Theodor Schrimpf, Berlin-Lichterfelde, Germany, as-

signor to Deutsche Telephonwerke und Kabelindustrie Aktiengesellschaft (De Te We), Berlin, Germany Filed July 23, 1954, Ser. No. 445,403

4 Claims. (Cl. 235-60) This invention relates to ofiice machines and is particularly directed to new and improved means for shifting sliding carriages of the same, e.g. counter carriages of computing machines, printing cylinders of adding machines, writing cylinders of typewriters or the like.

Shifting devices for reciprocating sliding carriages in oilice machines and employing a laterally deflective moment arm, constructed in the form of a handle, which carries a segment gear for engaging the transporting gear of the carriage, are already known. With such means it is possible to shift the carriage manually to any desired position.

For the purpose of reading in preset numerical values, especially in cash registers, lever pairs operating in scissor-fashion and engaging from opposite sides a stop embodying the numerical value have been used successfully.

According to the invention, a particularly advantageous shifting device for carriages of office machines has been achieved by a functional combination of the above mentioned two arrangements, this shifting device making possible the shifting of such parts movably supported on the frame of the machine to optionally predetermined positions by motor driving means and being adapted for manual adjustment as well.

This is achieved according to this invention by controlling a shifting lever for moving the carriage by means of a pair of pushing levers operating in scissor-fashion. For this purpose, the shifting lever takes the form of a trailing pointer and is preferably in direct driving connection with the carriage. In a preferred form of the present invention, pushing levers, acting as control elements, are loosely arranged on an axis and are led by drive means from opposite directions against optionally set stops, thereby pushing the shifting lever from both sides into a predetermined position.

These and other objects will be apparent from the following detailed description when read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, the invention, for purposes of illustration, being shown in association with the counter carriage of a computing machine of the tenkey type. In the drawings:

Figure 1 is an incomplete plan view of the machine with all parts omitted except the operative components of the invention, the machine keyboard being shown in dotted lines;

Figure 2 is a side elevation of the arrangement in Figure 1;

Figure 3 is an incomplete front elevation of a modification of the invention; and

Figures 3a and 3b are plan and side elevational views, respectively, of the arrangement in Figure 3.

The shifting device consists of two pushing levers 1a 7 and 1b which are loosely arranged on the same axis 2 for engagement at one end with stops 3 when the latter are in operative position (Figure l and Figure 2). On this same axis 2 a shifting lever 4 is pivoted for free movement, the shifting lever being formed with an elongated arm and provided at the end thereof with a lug ice 4a bent laterally from the plane of the lever into the path of pushing levers 1a, 1b. Two links 5 are pivotably connected together at one end and are each hinged at the other end to levers 1a and 1b, respectively. A cam roller 6 travelling in a curved cam groove of a disc 7 is provided at the mutual connection of the links 5. The disc 7 is loosely journalled on shaft 2 which carries at one end a single revolution clutch 8, shaft 2 being turned by an electric motor, not shown.

The shifting lever 4 is formed at the end generally remote from lug 4a with a segment gear 9 which engages a sprocket 10, said sprocket moving the counter carriage 12 by means of a feed gear 10b, fixed to the same shaft 10a as the sprocket 10 in meshing engagement with a rack 11 mounted on carriage 12.

Located in front of the ten-keyboard indicated in dotted lines at 13 are tabulator-keys 14 by means of which stops 3 may be set. These stops 3 are held in a stop-support 15, the latter being mounted on the frame of the machine.

The operation of the invention is as follows:

A factor brought into the computing machine through keys 13 is to be multiplied with 3,005.001, for example. The carriage l2 stands in its starting position, i.e., the lowest decade of the product-register being opposite the lowestldecade of the actuating mechanism. By a .slight depression of the plus-key, the set figure passes once into the product-register. The operator now actuates the tabulating key 14 which is marked 4. By depressing 4 key 14, the respective 4 stop 3 is set. Upon the release of 4 key 14, the drive-motor is switched on by conventional means not shown, and the lever 21, only a fragment of which is shown, is actuated to engage pawl 20 in a notch on the periphery of clutch 8, thereby causing the motor through shaft 2 to turn the disc 7 for one revolution. When disc 7 starts to rotate, roller 6 is so guided by the cam groove that it brings levers 1a and 1b from the spread starting position shown in Figure l to closed position. As lever 1b pivots, shifting lever 4 is carried along with it, while the other lever in swings to the set "4 stop 3. As soon as lever 1b has also reached 4 stop 3 from the other side, shifting of the carriage 12 by means of the elements 9, 10 and 11 into its new position is concluded. The lever 4 is fixed in this new position on both sides by levers 1a and 1b. The disc 7, however, has at this point concluded only half a revolution and during the rest of its revolution the levers 1a and 1b are brought back into their spread starting position.

The carriage is held in its new position by a drop-in roll of known design and stands now in the fourth decade ready to pass the fed-in figure into the productregister five times by depression of the plus-key.

7 key 14 for the seventh decade digit is next depressed by the operator, thereby causing 4 stop 3, previously set'by 4 key 14, to return to inoperative position and 7 stop 3 to become operative.

Thereafter, by releasing 7 key 14, the same shifting operation takes place as before mentioned with 4 key 14. After this shifting operation, the carriage 12 rests in the seventh decade in which the operator passes the factor into the product register three times by depressing the plus-key for a corresponding length of time.

In Figures 3, 3a and 3b is shown a modified arrangement for use in computing machines where a negative transfer of members into the product register (subtraction) is obtained by lateral shifting of the carriage. In these figures, stops 3 are supported on a rail 15 which is capable of lateral displacement by virtue of slots 15a,

15b. The rail includes inclined cam surfaces 15c, 15d which are adapted to be engaged by projections carried by the plus and minus keys, respectively. Depression of either of the plus and minus keys shifts the rails and stops 3 into proper position for positive or negative transfer, as the case may be. Figure 3 shows the rail in position for negative transfer.

If the operator wants to change the position of the carriage 12, as chosen by the tabulator key 14, only the resistance of the drop-in roll holding the carriage in its temporary position has to be overcome by his hand. So the carriage 12 may be shifted manually in any position with or without previous tabulator setting, provided no shifting operation by motor is just taking place, i.e., the levers 1a and 1b are not being brought to closed position at the time.

During manual shifting of the carriage, the shifting lever 4 is inetfectively turned by the toothed rack 11, sprockets 10 and tooth sector 9. Endstops are not needed for carriage 12 since the levers 1a and 1b resting in their spread starting position act as end stops for the shifting lever 4 and therefore for the carriage12.

The invention is not limited to the above described example, but it can be used with the same effectiveness and advantages for the tabulation of printing cylinders in adding, computing and accounting machines and for writing-cylinders of typewriters.

I claim:

1. In an ofiice machine including a sliding carriage and a shifting device for said carriage, said shifting device comprising a shifting lever operatively' connected to said carriage whereby movement of said lever moves said carriage, a pair of pushing levers mounted for pivotal movement about a common axis, the respective levers being adapted to engage the shifting lever upon opposite sides to move the same, means for pivotingsaid pushing levers scissors-fashion in arc-like paths, the sum of which is constant irrespective of the extent of movement of each individual lever, said pivoting means comprising a pair of links each pivoted to one of said pushing levers and to a common axis and cam means for varying the position of said common axis to swing said links together. and a plurality of stop means optionally interposable in the paths of said pushing levers at predetermined positions to control the extent of movement of each lever and thus the extent of movement of said shifting lever and said carriage.

2. An ofirce machine as claimed in claim 1 wherein one end of each link is hinged to a pushing lever and wherein the other ends of said links are movably connected with each other and further including motor drive means including a drive shaft extending through this junction into the pushing levers.

3. An office machine as claimed in claim 2 wherein a roll is provided in the junction of said links, said roll ,being guided by a cam, said cam being fixed to said drive References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1 1,189,279 Midgley July 4, 1916 1,416,974 Piscicelli May 23, 1922 2,216,636 Webb Oct. 1, 1940 2,294,948 Avery Sept. 8, 1942 2,502,321 Harrison Mar. 28, 1950 

